REU Site: Smart and Sustainable Construction in the Digital Era

The Department of Construction Science at Texas A&M University will host a new 3-year REU site featuring smart construction technologies and sustainable construction methods that will transform the construction industry. The REU site will focus on emerging digital technologies and processes that are promising to transform construction into a safer, more productive, more resilient, and more sustainability aware sector. Ten undergraduate students will participate in a 10-week summer research experience program each year, which will be reinforced with enrichment activities and professional development activities. Participants will learn analytical skills, independent thinking and cognitive skills, and collaboration skills that are required for developing, testing, and validating emerging digital technologies and sustainable solutions for construction. This unique REU program will provide current STEM-field undergraduate students with another career path to construction through research and innovation. The project will allow REU students to experience the whole process of research supported by faculty mentors and potential STEM career pathways. The Department of Construction Science at Texas A&M University will host a new 3-year REU site featuring smart construction technologies and sustainable construction methods that will transform the construction industry. The REU site will focus on emerging digital technologies and processes that are promising to transform construction into a safer, more productive, more resilient, and more sustainability cognizant sector. Ten undergraduate students will participate in a then-week summer program of highly innovative research projects sponsored by federal and state funding agencies, as well as industry sponsors. The REU students will conduct research on virtual reality, 3D-printing, drones, digital twins, robotics, smart materials, energy simulation, machine learning and artificial intelligence in the context of construction innovation. Faculty mentors will carefully select research projects and develop mini-scale projects at the appropriate level for undergraduates. Participants will learn analytical skills, independent thinking and cognitive skills, and collaboration skills that are required for developing, testing, and validating emerging digital technologies and sustainable solutions for construction. This unique REU program will provide current STEM-field undergraduate students with another career path to construction through research and innovation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.